Sounds part 4 of 5: Swoosh in the Press
by Mounty Swiss
Summary: 'Denver News' - Headlines
1. Chapter 1

Sounds Part 4 of 5: **Swoosh in the Press**

'_Denver News' - Headline: _

_**Robert T. Ironside is back - as Commissioner ad interim**_

_With Ex-Commissioner Fisette in prison and Chief Edward D. Brown in hospital the Denver police needed a temporary new head. Famous lawman Robert T. Ironside, who is well-known to the residents of Denver, agreed to fill in until things have settled down._

Very early the next morning Ironside went to the hospital for a short visit. He wanted to see Ed before starting his workday.

Sister Bertha, a motherly nurse, was in his room and signaled him to keep quiet.  
"You are too early. Chief Brown is still asleep. He needs his rest, so please don't disturb him, will you? I'll get a hot-water bag for him, he's such a cold creature, our dear VIP..."

She looked as if she could hardly restrain herself from patting his cheek. She and Sgt. Hank Riley would have made a wonderful couple: always hovering over Chief Brown!

Yet Ironside was a little disappointed. He had hoped for some information about Fisette and above all about prison governor Harry Granger who had to be involved in the conspiracy against them.  
A bruise at the inside of Ed's left arm caught his eye.

The nurse noticed it. "Oh, don't worry, that's absolutely harmless. He has pulled the IV out tonight. It sometimes happens to fidgety patients."

Huh? Was this Ed Brown she was talking about? "Chief Brown isn't a particularly fidgety patient, is he?"

"No, actually not," Bertha answered and left, obviously unperturbed by the lack of logic in her reasoning – a good soul, but not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Ironside would not have been Ironside had he just accepted this flimsy explanation.

"Ed, wake up, I need to talk to you!" He even shook the patient's arm a little. It was too cold to the touch indeed, and apart from the bruise there were a few slight scratches at his forearms, nothing important... but how could Ed have got them in bed? And why was he so hard to wake?

Something wasn't right here, he could smell it.

His friend moved his head and mumbled something incomprehensible.

By spontaneous inspiration Ironside lifted the blanket and stripped back the legs of Ed's pajama pants. At his shins he found some slight abrasions as well. Ironside was now convinced that Ed had been out of bed and stumbled over something, for instance over his IV stand or over his own legs. Had he pulled out the IV at the same time?

Why should he have left the bed? He could have rung the bell if he needed something. He was a stubborn guy all right, but not stubborn enough to risk a fall in his weakened state if he just had to ring for help.  
So – why hadn't he rung?

Without any scruple he pressed the button. Nothing happened.  
Nothing at all. The bell didn't work.

Ironside rolled closer and inspected the wire. Was there a loose contact?  
No – the plug was pulled out of the socket, and so was the one of the cable to the bedside lamp. A coincidence?

Ironside recapitulated: A bell and a lamp not working – Ed probably getting out of bed, taking a fall and pulling his IV out. And then what? Had he just climbed back into bed? Hardly. He would not have managed. If he'd had help somebody would have known about it – but why hadn't the nurse mentioned the incident?

Ironside had posted a police officer in front of Ed's room since the case wasn't entirely solved. There had been a change of shifts half an hour ago. The officer of the nightshift might know more.

He used the phone at Ed's bedside to call headquarters and was told that a certain officer Blacksmith had been on duty in the hospital. He called him. After the fifteenth ringing Blacksmith answered with a sleepy voice.

"Yes, I was on duty, and yes, around four a.m. I heard a clatter in his room. Of course I ran in immediately. He was lying on the ground, unconscious, together with his IV stand. I picked him up and put him back to bed. I rang the bell, but nobody came, so I went to look for the night nurse, who had been busy with another patient. She said that she would take care of the Chief. Ah, and I closed the window because I thought that it was rather cold in his room."

Why in blazes had the night nurse kept this incident secret?!

Who was that nurse? She would have some explaining to do!

Again he called headquarters. Jerry Abbey was in now. "Jerry, find out for me which nurse was on night shift last night on the second floor of the hospital."

Sister Bertha brought the hot-water bag, and Ed still didn't stir.

This was really, really strange...

Ed's mobile phone in Ironside's pocket rang. Meanwhile he had learned how to handle it. It was Jerry already, "Sir, the night nurse is Betty Granger, the daughter of prison governor Granger!"

"Good work, Jerry!" Ironside's thoughts somersaulted. Was the nurse behind these 'coincidences'? Did she want to harm Ed to keep him from testifying against her father? His glance fell on the infusion bag. What in blazes was in that bag?! Without a moment's hesitation he stopped the drip.

Again he shook his friend's arm, more vehemently this time. "Ed, wake up!"

Finally he was successful: Brown opened his eyes – but only for a second.

"Stay with me! I need some information!"

Ed knew this sentence all too well. It was no good not to comply! His eyes focused. Somewhat. "Whatchda matter?" he mumbled.

"How are you? And what happened tonight?"

"Fine. Nothing."

"Oh, stop that nonsense! I want some answers. What happened?"

Ed made an effort to please his former boss. "Too cold. Window open. Lost blanket. Bell and bedside lamp didn't work. Stood up to switch on light. Stumbled. Must have passed out."

Ironside nodded. "That figures. And how are you feeling now? And save your standard answers for your wife. I need to know."

"Honest? I feel like 200 pounds of cotton wool."

It made Ironside smile. "Stop exaggerating. You have no idea what 200 pounds feel like – skin and bones don't weigh that much."

At this stage Ed was used to getting teased for being underweight.

"I suppose you got an overdose of soporifics. I'll have this IV bag analyzed. Did you know that the night nurse is Granger's daughter?"

The thoughtful look in Ed's eyes showed Ironside that his friend was finally starting to think coherently again. "No, I only knew her as 'Nurse Betty'. So you believe that Granger's getting nervous?"

"She left the window open, although she must have known that you are susceptible to cold. And I highly doubt that you lost your blanket and pulled the plugs out of the sockets yourself."

"Wanna set me up to nail her?" Obviously Ed was not in a very patient mood.

"Forget it, you fool! You're in no shape to defend yourself against a fly, let alone against a nurse who is out to kill you. No, I suppose I will have a little talk with her and shake the truth out of her." He didn't like the prospect too much, but risking Ed's life was no option.

"What could she possibly do against her father? I'd rather convict Granger than her."

Oh Ed – always the gentleman, always expecting the woman to be the victim! thought Ironside.

But he gave in to a certain degree, "Listen – it's still early. Granger may still be at home. I will try to meet them both there. Call Jerry. Tell him to get an arrest warrant for Betty and meet me in front of the Grangers' house. Can you manage that or shall I call the officer from outside?"

"I'll manage – but you be careful!"

"And I want Eve to supervise the exchange of your infusion. We don't know who we can trust here."

Ironside filled the glass on the nightstand. "And you drink this! I need you on your feet. You have pulled a sickie long enough!"

Ed couldn't afford closing his eyes. He still had to fight the soporifics in his system. Fortunately Jerry was quick on the uptake and didn't need a lot of explanations and Eve was already on her way to the hospital.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Obviously Jerry broke every record. Ironside didn't have to wait for him more than three minutes.

Jerry rang the bell and Betty opened the door. When she saw the warrant she had to sit down on the stairs. "Oh my God, is he dead? I didn't want to kill him... wanted him to have a setback to keep him out of commission... when it didn't work I gave him a soporific... thought they might be satisfied when he just wouldn't wake up... was unsure how much would be needed... the poor man, I'm so sorry..."

"May we come in?"

Resignedly Harry Granger fully opened the door. If the sharp Commissioner ad interim knew that much, he would find out about the rest too.

They sat down in the living-room. The Grangers didn't offer any coffee, and Ironside didn't expect any.

Betty was still sobbing.

"Why did you do it?"

Granger answered in her place: "They have Kitty, her little sister. She's got Down's syndrome."

A heavy silence spread out, far too long. Granger felt that he had to say more.

"The name of the game was 'Fisette against Brown' right from the beginning.

You couldn't have known, but it was a mistake to make Fisette appoint Brown as Chief of detectives in the first place."

"Why so?"

"Oh, come on, be realistic: Brown was a weak man from the beginning. He could never stand up to Fisette, the poor guy, and we all knew it. You don't back a sick horse. Ok, everybody was surprised at how well he recovered when he got married – Mrs. Brown must be a great woman. And then he managed to clear up most of the mess McManus and consorts had left behind. But he also had this kind of straight thinking about him: logic and scientific. He lacked the wickedness necessary in this business. Fisette has it, as well as McManus. And he's on the payroll of half of the mob bosses. Brown could not win, no way, and you see where it got him."

For Ironside the pieces of the puzzle fell into place: Ed feeling that his work had become so tough, and not wanting his son to become a detective... Ed, why in blazes haven't you told me? Maybe I could have prevented a lot of what has happened! - But then Ed probably didn't want to call Daddy for help again.

Granger went on, "For a certain time I started to doubt, though... he had this strange way of winning people over with his disarming sincerity; convicted crooks started to eat out of the palm of his hand, and every cop would go through hell and high water for him. And the people of Denver trusted him."

"Why didn't you switch sides when you noticed that he had a chance?"

"He didn't have a chance. Isn't his death proof enough for that? And then I didn't have the strength to fight against Fisette. Having a handicapped child takes up a lot of energy. You can't understand that. Nobody without such a child can understand it."

"Danny Brown has a handicap too."

"Yes. No idea how the Browns manage that. Managed, I mean. And then, when you debunked Fisette, they took Kitty, and that was the end of it."

"Tell me about Kitty."

"She's sixteen years old, but she looks like ten and in her mind she's more like a four-year-old."

He stood up. He handed Ironside a portrait which had been standing on the shelf. The girl on it had long, blond hair and looked like an angel. She wore bright-red lipstick and a lace dress and had a ribbon in her hair.

"She was in a camp for children with special needs, and the day after Fisette was booked, she just vanished from there. She means so much to us... Then I got instructions about what I should do with Chief Brown, like not giving him enough protection against the cold. Betty knew what to put into his food, but he didn't eat it. Then I had to let Gilette into his cell who would find a way to kill him and make it look like an accident... I was glad that it didn't work out then, but I was so afraid that Fisette's people would hurt my little girl... she's so helpless... Will they let her go now...?"

Ironside decided not to tell him that Ed was still alive. It might be an advantage.

"If you believe that, then you are dumber than legally permitted," he answered coldly. As well as he understood a father's feeling for his child, he could still not accept a coldblooded killing. Maybe Ed could. Darn it!

He considered his possibilities with lightning speed. Would it be possible to let people believe that Ed was dead to protect the girl? Maybe. But Ironside didn't delude himself: He would be the next on Fisette's list, and Hank's life was in danger too. With the Mob still in his control, Fisette was far from being defeated.

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_It's not Saturday, I know... Over the next few weeks I may not be able to update my stories at regular intervals._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

'_Denver News' - Headline: _

_**Chief Edward D. Brown dead!**_

_Denver's Chief of Police, who had been freed from prison in a spectacular action of solidarity by the residents of Denver, died last night. A cause of death has not been released yet, but he was in critical condition after suffering from pneumonia. 'Denver News' would like to express its condolences to Mrs. Brown and her son..._

Ed didn't like the prospect of leaving the hospital in a coffin too much – not even _alive_ in a coffin.

"Will he get enough air?" Eve asked worriedly. "And what if he has to cough?"

"Who says that it has to be a coffin? If we pretend that there will be an autopsy, then we can put him onto a gurney. That will be easier," suggested Ironside.

Eve was not convinced, but the thought of leaving her husband in a hospital where he was exposed to further attacks scared her even more.

"As soon as they think that I'm out of the way they will come after you," objected Ed.

"I will take care of myself," snarled Ironside, and Ed winced. Obviously he had caused a lot of trouble because he had _not_ been able to take care of himself.

"Sorry," he mumbled, but only Eve heard it. Encouragingly she pressed his hand for a second.

* * *

'_Denver News' – front page: _

_**Disabled young girl abducted!**_

_Kitty Granger, prison governor Harry Granger's daughter, has been missing since last Thursday. The police reported that they suspect a kidnapping. Kitty is affected by trisomy 21. She is sixteen years old, height four inches eleven, wearing a pink frill dress, white tights, black strappy heels... _

"Billy, I wanna marry you!" Kitty shouted and hugged the flabbergasted boy fervently.

"Please, Kitty, I'm sorry, but you can't..."

Bill tried to push her away without hurting her. She was such a sweet girl.

"Billiiiiiie! Don't you like me?"

"Yes, Kitty, of course I like you, I like you very much... but see... I'm too young to get married!"

This was absolutely ridiculous. Half a year ago he would have smacked her. But now everything was different. It was bad enough that he had kidnapped a handicapped child. He sure as hell would not hurt her. Chief Brown would not tolerate such a thing. He would not tolerate a kidnapping either, but what should they have done? The man on the phone had said that Chief Brown would get killed if they didn't take the prison warden's daughter hostage, because Granger wanted Chief Brown dead. They were to capture the kid and then to hide her. If they would not do it or if they told a living soul, he would die. Chris and Bill had debated whether or not they should try to talk to Chief Brown. He was the one who would know what to do. But then – he was in hospital. They could not reach him directly. And what if the man on the phone – a Mobster for sure - would get a whiff of it? It was too dangerous...

"Bill!" Chris stormed down the stairs to the cellar where they were hiding out. He brandished a newspaper and he looked like a ghost. "Bill, read this!"

He held the paper under his friend's nose. Shocked Bill read the headline:

_**Chief Edward D. Brown dead!**_

Horrified Bill read on what the 'Denver News' wrote about the death of a man he had admired.

"That's impossible! They promised..."

"No, they didn't promise a thing. They only threatened to kill him if we _didn't_ kidnap Kitty. They didn't say that they would _not_ kill him if we did. And maybe he really died from the after-effects of his illness." Chris' voice sounded cold and impersonal.

Bill sat down onto the stairs. He clasped his hands before his face.

Kitty wondered if he was crying. She didn't understand what this was all about, but her caring heart felt that the beloved boy was sad. She knelt down at his side and hugged him tenderly. At first he wanted to push her away, but then he didn't. In a strange way it felt good that someone was sharing his grief, even though it was only a mentally retarded child.

"If they killed him then I will kill them. And if the people in the hospital didn't take good care of him then..."

Bill looked up, surprised. Chris wasn't cool at all. His anger was nothing but an attempt to hide his grief!

"Then what?"

"Oh, I don't know... I only know that it is so wrong that he of all people had to die."

"He was the one who believed in me and who gave me a second chance after we almost killed him last summer. It's as if he saw something in me that others could not see, and that I didn't even know myself I had in me. He got me to believe that I could start fresh... "

Chris nodded. "It was so strange. When he played basketball with us he didn't tolerate the slightest offense against someone who was smaller or weaker. He insisted that we took on guys who are stronger than ourselves. I think he forgave us the attempt on his life, but he was very sad about what we did to Danny. I was sure that he had ordered Granger to set me free the day before yesterday."

"Chris - he would want us to let Kitty go. It's no use keeping her any longer. Let's make sure that nothing happens to her."

Billy nodded. "We leave her near Chief Brown's house. I'm sure Mrs. Brown will take care of her."

"Noooo!" shouted Kitty. She hugged Billy exuberantly and kissed him passionately.

"Kitty – when this is over I will come back to you, I promise."

* * *

Two cars left the hospital: One of them contained the body of the deceased Chief of Police Edward Brown. In the other, Commissioner ad interim Robert T. Ironside left.

The man who had been sitting in ambush in front of the hospital decided to follow the living man. He had strict instructions that this man could not be left that way.

Ironside soon noticed that he was being followed. Well, this was better than if they had followed Jerry, who drove Ed home on detours.

He was good at getting get rid of pursuers. Yet when he tried to get back to headquarters, he noticed that they were waiting for him. What should he do?

He could not go to Ed's, it was too dangerous.

He decided to hide in the swimming pool again, at least for the time being. He could not call for help. If he called police headquarters he might as well end up talking to a corrupt officer who could just come here and try to kill him. The same thing could happen if Ed took care of things. No, he would try to defend himself. It wasn't the first time that he had to face seemingly stronger adversaries.

Yet he knew that sooner or later the Mob or some corrupt police officers would find him there.

He was under no illusions: his situation was all but comfortable. The Mob would not only send a single man, but at least two. There was no place to hide here if someone went looking in earnest. He had his gun all right, but against two armed men things would be dangerous. How could he surprise some attackers?

He looked around. There was not much stored here in January... He would have to use what he found: in a huge crate made of lattices, there were lots of items of Sagex probably used as buoyancy aids and toys: balls, swimming boards, rings and little animals. The walls of the crate were held together by wires. Ironside used the metal saw of his Swiss Army knife to cut most of the wires on one side. He prepared the last one so that it could be opened with one small movement. Then he hid behind the crate. This would not protect him from an army, but maybe his trick would stall some intruders long enough for him to arrest them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Daddy, daddy, I've found a girl...!"

Ed sat up on the couch. Huh? His autistic son wasn't interested in social contacts at all, let alone in girls. But as a matter of fact he was pulling a girl into the living-room.

Although Brown had never seen her before, he knew instantly who she was: Kitty Granger, Harry Granger's younger daughter. She was only about Danny's height. Yet like most kids with Down's she was a little chubby, and she reminded him of raspberry sweets. In comparison to her Danny looked like a toothpick.

"Come here, you two!" he said friendly, feverishly thinking about what he would have to do now. "Hello, you are Kitty, aren't you?"

"Yessir. Are you sick?"

"I'm fine. – Danny, where did you meet Kitty?"

"On my way home from school. Dad – she said that she saw people going into the swimming pool. But what would they do there in January?"

Alarmed Ed asked back: "Are you sure about this, Kitty?"

"Yes, went swimming. But no water." She started to giggle. "Swimming without water!"

"Dad, where is Chief Ironside?" Danny knew that Ironside had been hiding there while his father was in prison.

How much could Ed tell his son? Usually he kept work and family strictly apart. "I'm not sure, Danny."

Jerry Abbey had called him. The Chief hadn't arrived at headquarters. Ed knew that his car had been followed, probably by Mob people, when they had left the hospital.

"Let me call headquarters. We can't take any risk."

Ed dialed the number. "I need three units at the Red River swimming pool. Whatever is happening there - the situation must be handled with utmost care and circumspection. Commissioner Ironside's live may be at stake."

"Sir... I don't understand... we heard that you were dead..."

"Well, I'm not, and there's no time for small-talk now."

Mark had flown to Denver when he heard of the trouble his friends were in. He had arrived just after lunch.

He entered when Ed hung up.

"Mark, I need you to drive me to the swimming pool. Please help me get out to my car, will you?"

Eve, who had followed Mark, protested. "Darling, you can't do this!"

"Eve, I have to go. I can't leave the Chief alone."

Mark pulled him to a standing position. He knew that this was madness – but he couldn't see an alternative. Eve helped Ed put on his coat over his pajamas.

"Please, honey, take care of Kitty, but don't tell anybody that she is here."

Eve's heart was heavy when her glance followed her husband's black Ford, while she prepared some chocolate milk for her son and his very special guest.

* * *

Ironside heard the intruders at the door. As his right arm was still sore, he held his gun ready in his left hand. His aim was almost as good that way.

"Ironside, we know that you are here! Come out. We don't want to shoot you!"

Of course they did. They could not let him live, he knew too much. They would be passing in front of his crate; there was no other way in.

Very carefully, guns drawn, they advanced, with enough space between them that he would not be able to hit both at once. They acted like professionals. Still he could not just shoot them without a warning. This wasn't the Wild West.

When the first one had halfway passed the crate, he opened the last wire. The panel fell down and like a cascade all the toys rolled out.  
The first mobster, nervous anyway, was taken aback. He stumbled over the toys and over his own feet. The second intruder, brought out of his equilibrium by his pal, didn't fare any better. Trying to get out of the area covered with the unpredictably moving objects they fell into the empty basin for the non-swimmers. It was only about half a yard deep, but one of them seemed to have hurt his ankle. Swearing and groaning he bent down. His partner let himself get distracted just long enough for Ironside to emerge from behind his crate.  
He pointed his .38 at the two men in the basin. "Put your guns onto the edge of the basin and then your hands on your head!" he ordered coldly.  
They didn't have much of a choice. Resigned they complied.  
As if they wanted to make fun of them, two or three of the Sagex toys followed them down into the basin.

"Take three steps back!"

"Sir, this is nothing personal..." started one.

"I'm not interested. You are under arrest for attempted assault on a police officer. You have the right to remain silent..."

He didn't get any further.

* * *

Mark didn't respect the speed limits. "So you expect to find the Chief and probably some crooks there. Did you have a special reason to order three teams?" he asked.

"Statistical probability. One may be on Fisette's payroll, two will be straight. The two will hopefully be able to deal with the one and with the intruders."

"You were wrong when you went to prison thinking that the good guys would keep the upper hand," Mark pointed out.

"Let's hope that I am right this time."

Surprised, Mark noticed that behind his usual politeness Brown sounded exactly as cold as Ironside. His best friend was in danger, the man whom he owed almost everything in his life. Therefore his well-trained civility could not cover his basic instincts: Wanting to protect this man at any price.

When Mark and Ed arrived at the gate of the swimming pool, the scene in front of their eyes was chaotic: Policemen in uniforms and in plain clothes shouting at one another and pointing at one another...


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Between them two men were standing in the empty baby basin with their hands on their heads and looking shaken.

"Mark, take this." Ed gave Mark his .38 and reached back into the rear of the car, grabbing a megaphone. "Go to the entrance, but stay covered!"

Judge Sanger had been a policeman long enough to understand what his friend had in mind. "Can you stand on your feet?"

"Sure. Go ahead!"

When Mark had reached his position, Ed pulled himself out of the car. Leaning against the door he shouted through the megaphone: "Chief Brown here. I want all weapons dropped except Judge Sanger's, who is standing near the entrance door and who is in control of the situation. I guarantee you that we will find out who was in Fisette's service and who was not, and I guarantee everybody a fair trial."

Addressing Mark, who had a better view on the scene, he asked in a low voice: "Is the Chief still armed?"

Mark signed him that yes.

"I want all police officers to move over to the fence." There Ironside could keep them together. "Drop your handcuffs in front of the sorting grid."

They complied.

Ironside took command. "You two in the basin, come out with your hands behind your heads."

They did, and while Ironside kept pointing at the police officers, Mark handcuffed the two mobsters to the grid. Then he shifted his attention to the policemen.

Ironside rolled out to Ed. "The two standing to the left are crooks."

Ed didn't doubt his judgment for a second. "Miller and Blake, handcuff Rollins. Rogers and Brooks, arrest Stillwater." There were enough handcuffs left. Finally Mark could respire.

"Book Rollins and Stillwater," barked Ironside, who hadn't known their names up to this moment, but who was a good judge of their actions.

Meanwhile Ed called headquarters for another unit. They would have to take care of the mobsters.

"Kitty Granger is free. She's with Eve," he explained.

"Thank God!"

Yet Ironside noticed that Ed would not be able to keep upright much longer.

"I'll take it from here. Mark, drive him home."

"My deputy will have to be suspended and Granger..."

"What do you think that I will do when I say that I'll take it from here?!"

"Sorry, Chief, I..."

"It's all right. Make yourself scarce!"

Mark helped Ed back into the car.

Much softer Ironside addressed Mark, "Take good care of him, will you?"

Mark threw a compassionate look at his old friend, but Ironside himself looked drained as well. "Are you sure that _you_ don't need me?"

"When I need a babysitter you'll be the first to know!"

Mark shook his head and started the engine of Ed's Ford.

Yet it was too late to get away: the press marched up. They blocked the exit with two vans. They beleaguered Chief Brown who had opened the window of his car... a cheer for electrical window lifters, he thought.

"Chief Brown, we heard that you were dead. How could this happen?"

"Well, I never said that I was dead, did I?"

It earned him a wave of laughter.

"What can you tell us about this strange incident?"

"That Commissioner Ironside did a great job here. Without him we would be in trouble."

"It looks as if the Mob has a lot of power in this town. Will we just have to live with that?"

Brown became very serious. "It's up to every single man, woman and child to decide if they want to live in fear from the Mob or if they stand up for the truth. Sometimes it may be tough. Sometimes it may be expensive. Sometimes it takes a lot of courage. But it can be done."

"What will be done about the corruption within the police department?"

"Actually every town has the police it deserves. The police are a mirror of the population of a town. I trust in the inhabitants of Denver, and I trust in the police. Together they will fight for justice, and they will manage to build a town where children grow up and develop their beautiful talents, where the weak get protection, where the strong get some challenging duties, where those in need get help and where everybody is ready to share their belongings and their time. Nobody is too weak or too young or not intelligent enough to help achieve this goal. It's the responsibility of each and every human being in this town. Please tell this to your readers."

Mark was taken aback by his friend's long speech. It wasn't like him. This sounded like a valediction. He had made sure that Ed's coat covered his pajama bottoms, but a female reporter with some imagination probably noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt, a tie and a jacket. Moreover Ed couldn't conceal that his voice became weaker with every sentence. Censoriously she asked, "Chief Brown, how is your state of health?"

"I'm not quite at my best yet. Therefore I would like to go home now, if you don't mind." His voice had become very low.

Again the woman was the fastest to react, "By all means, sir! And get well soon!"

The vans were moved away and a relieved Mark drove off.

"Hospital or home?" he asked, noticing that his friend had totally spent himself.

"Home."

Mark parked as close to the entrance as possible. He helped his friend get inside and lie down onto the couch, then he covered him with the blanket which was there for the purpose.

* * *

'_Denver News' - Headline: _

_**Plea by Chief Brown: "Be brave and do the right thing!" **_

_Contrary to what was communicated earlier and to our immense relief, Chief of police Edward D. Brown didn't die of his pneumonia. In a very engaging and impressive speech, he appealed to the residents of Denver to stand together and not give the Mob a chance to terrorize them any longer._

In front of the swimming pool the reporters had gathered. The woman had spoken up, "Chief Brown talked about responsibility. We also have a responsibility now. We will report what we have seen and heard here, the truth: a plea to do the right thing. A very brave man has reminded us that we are human beings, and that we have to act as human beings. That's what we will report, and nothing else. Do you agree with me?"

They did – and nobody heard or read a single word about a man in pajamas with a breaking voice who could hardly keep upright, but they were called to be as brave as their Chief of police.

* * *

Hank Riley and a second officer turned up. They would have to book the mobsters. "After that you arrest Granger and his daughter," ordered Ironside. It would be up to the judge to decide about them.

Ironside was tired and cold and hungry. Nevertheless he returned to headquarters. Deputy Chief Bennet had been expecting that he would be suspended. Ironside thought that maybe he had just been Fisette's marionette, but he was not supportable right now.

Ironside didn't get to close the door of his office behind him: a familiar face showed up. It was Jamie, one of the kids of the children's home.

"Sir, are you all right?" he asked, when he noticed that the big man was rubbing his injured right arm.

It made Ironside smile: The kid was developing a protective instinct!

"I'm fine, thanks. Why did you come here?"

"I saw the news on TV," said Jamie. "I'm not quite sure if this is important, but one of our oldest boys, Chris, who was in prison until a few days ago, lost this." He dug a pink ribbon out of his coat pocket. "I thought that it looked like the ones of that missed girl, Kitty something."

"This may be very important, my friend! Well done. Do you know where Chris went?"

"No, but he and Bill have been behaving strangely lately. Over the last few nights one of them was out all the time. And today when Bill showed up he seemed to be very angry. He hasn't been like this since Chief Brown has helped him after he and Chris started that fire last summer."

"Thank you, Jamie! Did you notice anything else?"

"Well, Bill's eyes were swollen. I think he has cried. Big boys don't cry, do they?"

Ironside combined quickly. "Sometimes they do." Maybe the Mob had used the teenagers to abduct Kitty. This didn't quite explain their strange behavior though; he would have to find out about the details.

"Now tell me – if they would want to hide out, where would they go?"

"I could show you some of the hideouts we know – but there are stairs, that's why Bill and I didn't take you there when you were on the run."

"We'll take a car to get around."

In the meantime Hank Riley had come in. Ironside chose him as his driver, and they used the same van as on earlier occasions when Ironside had been in Denver.

It was in the second hideout, not far from the swimming pool, that they found Bill and Chris. Hank helped Ironside with the stairs.

The boys didn't resist, when Hank asked them to come out. They had been debating about going home anyway and seemed to be glad that they didn't have to hide anymore. "Someone phoned us and told us that Mr. Granger wanted to kill Chief Brown. They wanted us to kidnap his daughter to keep him from doing it," explained Bill.

"We didn't want to do it," added Chris. "But did we have a choice? And now Chief Brown is dead anyway. I don't care if I have to go back to prison. It's just so fricking unjust that they killed him."

Ironside felt that they really cared about Ed who had become their role model.

"Chief Brown is alive."

The two boys stared at him dumbfounded.

Then, as if he had switched on a lamp, their faces lit up.

"No jive?"

"No jive."

"Then what we did helped safe his live?"

Ironside sighed. "No. The people who made you abduct Kitty lied to you. They ordered the prison director to kill Chief Brown and threatened that otherwise Kitty would be killed."

Now the boys were totally confused. They would never have killed Kitty!

Their fate would depend on how they had treated their victim, thought Ironside.

"Did you abuse the girl?" he asked sternly.

"Sir! Of course not! We want to talk to Chief Brown! He will believe us!"

"You can't. He's a sick man."

"What can we do to prove that we didn't harm a hair on her head?!"

"Bill, you have a red stain on your cheek. What's that?"

Bill turned almost as red as the red spot. "She kissed me. She said that she wanted to marry me..."

Now – that was probably enough to prove that the boys hadn't done any harm to Kitty, thought Ironside.

He decided to let them go. They would have to stay in the children's home for future questioning.

Jerry arrived at the scene. "Chief, do you think that we have caught all the crooked cops now?"

Ironside shook his head. "No, Jerry." He was beat and his arm was sore. "No, Jerry. Unfortunately we never catch all of them."

* * *

When Ironside finally arrived at the Browns' house Mark filled him in about Ed, who had hardly managed to get back into the house.

"Chief – will he ever be himself again?"

"Mark, he _is_ being himself. Maybe more than ever. See - there's just a narrow ridge between accepting one's limits and giving up. Ed will not err on the side of giving up. He will fight and maybe burn the candle at both ends, same as during the last years. That's the way he is. He will do just fine."

"He had a good teacher. You are the king of the over-comers."

Just to make him feel better Ironside grinned. "For once you are perfectly right."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

'_Denver News' - Headline: _

_**Prison governor Gardner under arrest!**_

_Harry Gardner, the governor of the Denver prison, was arrested yesterday. It appears that he was involved in the affair around police Chief Edward Brown, who was wrongly held in prison and who almost died there. He stated that he only did it because he was being blackmailed: his younger daughter had been abducted. His older daughter took part of the attempts on Chief Brown's life. _

In the Kitchen, Kitty was bombarding Danny with questions about his friends (he didn't have any), about what foods he liked (pasta, pasta and pasta) and about what film-stars he was fan of (film-stars? he didn't know any; yet when he tried to explain her the benefits of trigonometry she didn't seem to be interested at all...) She was nice, she didn't laugh about his way of talking and she didn't push him around, but why didn't she read a book or play Lego instead of asking him all these random questions?!  
Yet what swept him off his feet was her next question, "Danny, will you marry me?"

"Poor girl," said Ed, who overheard them in the living-room.

Eve rested her hand lightly on his shoulder. "Yes. But don't blame yourself. It's not your fault that Granger had to go to prison."

"No, maybe not," he answered thoughtfully. "But I still wonder if I could have done something differently..."

At first Eve had been unsure if it was wise to keep her husband at home instead of taking him back to the hospital, but she understood that Ed was more at ease that way. What made things worse for her was that she didn't get him to eat properly.

Therefore she didn't object when Ed, who had not seen the sun for weeks now, wanted to post a letter himself. The letter box wasn't far away, just around the block, and the day was pleasant and warm for January. Eve thought that the fresh air might stimulate his appetite a little.

Yet Ironside and Ed seemed to be the most popular guys of Denver; they could hardly walk a few steps without being spoken to. They needed much longer than planned. After the third stop Ironside almost lost his temper. Ed stayed friendly, but by the time they came home his face had turned into a pale mask and he had become very silent. His breathing sounded labored, although there had been no hurry at all. He wasn't up to such efforts yet. Of course he would never have admitted it to anybody.

While Eve went into the kitchen to prepare dinner, he withdrew behind the newspaper, yet Ironside noticed that he wasn't really reading.

"Stop pretending! What's the matter?"

Brown's voice was as flat as his autistic son's when he answered: "Things may never be the same again." The doctor had told him that he might have sustained some permanent damage to his lungs due to the pneumonia and the lack of proper care in prison. "I didn't believe it, but this short walk taught me otherwise." He was completely worn out.

"For heaven's sake, don't you see that you hurt Eve by building a flaming wall around yourself? Do you think you are the first man who has to change his life?"

It hit Ed like a blow to his stomach. A wave of guilt washed over him. He didn't dare to look into Ironside's face. Ashamed he stood up and walked to the window. How could he whine about his fate? What Ironside had endured was so much worse – and Eve, his wonderful wife, deserved all the happiness of the world. How could he hurt her? Instead of thinking of himself he should have cared for her... He didn't get enough air into his lungs. Blackness threatened to overwhelm him. He buried his head in his crossed arms against the window. He could not bear himself right now, how should Ironside be able to bear him? ... But how could he escape this horrible situation? No way would he make it to the door...

"I'm sorry. Please – leave me alone." It sounded muffled through his shirtsleeve.

Ironside looked at the man who was struggling so hard to get back on his feet and not to cause any trouble to others, and he realized that his usual rigor probably wasn't what his friend needed right now. Should he go out and give him some space to recover his composure? But if he took a fall it wouldn't do him any good.

"Sit down!" he ordered.

There was no reaction.

"Ed, sit down!"

"Can't," was the muffled answer.

All right – one step after the other, thought Ironside.

"Turn around."

Ed managed the task without tumbling, leaning his back against the window now.

"Can you see the table in front of you? It's only two steps away."

Like a sleepwalker Ed moved forward, almost bumping into the table. Ironside managed to push a chair behind him. "Now sit down."

Brown complied, clinging to the edge of the table for dear life.

"Ed, there's nothing to be sorry for."

"Yes, there is. Thinking of what you had to go through..."

"You don't need to compare yourself to me. People are entitled to feeling dejected or exhausted even if they are not paralyzed. What happened to you might have broken stronger men than you. _But_ I won't let you push away all those who love you."

Ed didn't answer.

"Look, I wasn't married when I got shot, and I didn't have a handicapped child either. But Eve is a wonderful woman. She will help you get back on your feet."

"That's the problem. I don't deserve her."

"Are you planning on leaving her?!"

"Heavens, no!" Ed knew that he had to give his old mentor an explanation, although he didn't know how to get enough air into his lungs to get the words out. "She deserves the best man on earth, not someone like me. I'm only a burden to her. And in addition I burdened her with Danny."

"She loves you the way you are."

"Yes, she does, although I can't understand it," Ed answered. "But secretly she wishes me strong, and she is entitled to a strong husband. She goes to so much trouble to cook things I like, to get me to eat more, but I can't..."

"Can't you get it through your thick skull that people _care_ for you? She only wants you to be happy!"

"I know it's my fault. I already told you that I am sorry." His voice was merely a whisper by now.

"What in blazes are you talking about?! Nobody says that anything is your fault!"

"It was my fault that I didn't put Fisette behind bars when I first suspected him. It was my fault that I didn't listen when you tried to keep me from going to prison. It's my fault that Eve is stressed out..." Suddenly Ironside anticipated what his friend would look like at seventy. If he would ever reach that age.

He had always felt responsible for everything... and yes, Ironside had probably enhanced this character trait when he had been young by blaming him once too often, when something went wrong. He had expected that Brown would turn out to be a dependable leader, and he had wanted him to be strong and foreseeing . Everyone was the product of their character and their history. Ironside was content of having been an important part of Ed's history, and Ed had indeed become a man of strength and character. But now, in his weakened state his fortes turned into weaknesses. He was overwhelmed by an inadequate feeling of guilt.

"Ed, you took some tough decisions, and you took them according to your conscience. You were the one who had to bear the consequences in the first place. The only question is, if your principles allow you to still be police Chief of Denver. Have you thought about it?"

"The letter we posted was my resignation. I can't take any decisions against my conscience, and I don't want to endanger Eve and Danny. Someone could also try to blackmail me like Granger. I'm not the right person for the job."

Ironside felt like a father for Ed. He had been proud when he had been appointed Chief, and he had been proud about the way he had handled the job under such difficult circumstances. But he knew that his decision was right.

"Congratulations, Ed. I'm proud of you."

* * *

Later that day, Ironside talked to Eve in private. Gently he touched her arm, just for a second. "Eve, don't force Ed to eat anymore. Just leave him alone." If he relaxed his body would sooner or later tell him what he needed.

"But Robert...!" Eve couldn't say what she had in mind because Danny walked in.

"Trust me."

* * *

After Mark had left, Kitty's mother, Harry Granger's divorced wife, came to get her daughter. Kitty was heartbroken. She didn't want to leave this _lovely_ family. Hopeful to convince her, her mother pulled a package out of the trunk of her car. It contained a new dress in lilac, like made for a child who wants to go to a Halloween party as a fairy. It didn't have the desired effect. But Eve finally managed to convince Kitty to get into the car by promising that she could come back any time.

Danny looked behind them and wondered. People called him 'handicapped'. Was this what they considered to be 'normal'? – And it wasn't Kitty he was wondering about...

* * *

Eve heard her husband sit up in bed.

Alarmed she switched the light on. "Darling, do you need the oxygen?"

"No, I'm fine, honest!" He sounded awfully embarrassed though. "It's just... do you think I could get something to eat?"

* * *

**_Writer's Notes:_**

_- Thank you, dear Briroch, for correcting "Swoosh"!_

_- Thank you, dear readers and reviewers, for your patience. This entire story - "Sounds" - is getting rather long. Part 5 will be shorter though, and after that I will publish a more "classical" Ironside adventure._


End file.
